Automatic zigzag-stitch sewing machine



Feb. 14, 1961 FUJl KOIKE AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG-STITCI-I szwmc MACHINE Filed Nov. 22, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v H tl INVENTOR FUJI KOIKE ATTORNEYS Feb. 14, 1961 FUJI KC)IKE AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG-STITCH SEWING MACHINE Filed Nov. 22, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTO R N EY Feb. 14, 1961 FUJI KOIKE 2,971,482 AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG-STITCH SEWING MACHINE Filed Nov. 22, 1955 u 9 I! 5 j g$ Z i-m Hi1!" i 5/ um M 7.11} Nil?! R 9% am /M1 ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG-STIT Filed Nov. 22, 1955 FUJI KOIKE CH SEWING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR FUJI KOIKE ATTORNEYS United States Patent O AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG-STITCH SEWING MACHINE Fuji Koike, Nagoya, Japan, assignor to Nippon Sewing Machine Mfg. Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Nov. 22, 1955, Ser. No. 565,761 Claims priority, application Japan June 2, 1955 10 Claims. (Cl; 112-158) This invention relates to sewing machines of the zigzag type and including mechanisms cooperating in manners such that novel and pleasing ornamental stitches are produced; the invention contemplating a single manually operable control or selector structure such that an operator may with minimum difiiculty and skill produce diverse types of stitches.

A further object is that of furnishing a mechanism which will be of simple design and will include relatively few and rugged parts capable of economical production and assembly to provide an apparatus operating over long periods of time with freedom from all dilficulties, and which may be manufactured at a relatively nominal cost.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheets of drawings illustrating a practical embodiment of the invention, and inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine;

Fig, 2 is a transverse section in enlarged scale taken along the line II-II in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken along the line IIIIII in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig.2;

Fig. 3a is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts shifted so that the follower is out of contact with the cam assembly;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of certain of the operating mechanisms;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional plan views taken along the lines VV and VIVI respectively in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. l; and I Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively transverse sections taken along the lines VIIVII and VIIIVIII in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 6.

In the drawings, a needle bar operating cam 4 made of a lamination of several plate cams 4a, 4b 4) is attached on the upper part of a cam shaft 3 rotated by a main shaft or spindle 2 rotatably mounted in the machine frame 1. A pin 6 is slidable within a tubular memher '5. The latter extends parallel to cam shaft 3 and is supported for rotation arounds its axis. A follower 7 is carried by pin 6 and projects upwardly through an axially extending slot 8 provided in the side of the tubular member 5. Accordingly, pin 6 is restrained from rotating with respect to tubular member 5. An arm 9 is attachedto the upper part of member 5 and is in contact with one side of a rocker piece 11. The latter is supported by and oscillates around a pivot 10. One end of a connecting rod 12 with its other end connected to the needle bar mechanism is pressed against the other side of said rocker piece 11 by means of spring 13. The pressure of said spring 13 acts to press the forward end of the follower 7 against an element of the needle bar operating cam 4. Therefore, the needle bar operating earn 4 rotated by therotation of the main spindle 2 oscillates the tubular member Saround its axis by means of the follower 7. Rocker piece 11 oscillates around its pivot 2,971,482 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 10 and moves the needle bar in a lateral direction through connecting rod 12 in accordance with the contour of the engaged element of the needle bar operating cam 4.

The housing 1 of this mechanism includes (Fig. 1) the usual hollow base from which a standard rises up-* wardly to support the inner end of a hollow arm portion terminating in a head. In accordance with accepted design, the base supports a feed dog 39 in line with the needle bar 40 extending from the head of the machine. A presser foot 55 also is provided at this station. As shown in Fig. 5, a suitable crank mechanism 56 serves to reciprocate needle bar 40. The presser foot is coupled to the lower end of a bar 41, which rockingly mounts a link 42 supporting the needle bar 40 at one of its ends and being connected at its opposite end with the connect ing rod 12. Accordingly, as the latter reciprocates, the needle bar will have lateral motions transmitted to it.

Adjacent its inner end the connecting rod or pitman 12 supports the foot 55, which is engageable withthe surface of rocker 11. The pivot pin 10 carrying that member is supported by a stitch-adjusting lever 51 ex tending at one end beyond the casing of the machine, and at its opposite end being pivotally mounted as at 52. A bell crank lever 53 has the end of one of its arms extending beyond the surface of the casing 1 and is pivot-- ally supported as at 54. The second arm of this lever is coupled to the inner end of pitman 12. When lever 51 is shifted around its pivot 52, it will serve to vary the motion imparted to pitman 12 by arm9. Obviously, as lever 53 is rocked, foot 55 will be shifted longitudinally of rocker 11. When the foot occupies a position adjacent the pivot 52, it is apparent that maximum movements will be imparted to it by rocker member 11. The closer foot 55 is shifted toward pivot 10, the less will-be the range of reciprocation of the connecting rod 12. When the foot is in line with pivot 10, then no recipro' catory movements will be imparted to the pitman 12. A feed regulating cam 14 formed of a lamination of several plate cams 14a, 14b 14f is attached to the lower part of the cam shaft 3. A pin 16 is slidable within a tubular member 15 disposed parallel to the cam shaft 3. A follower 17 extends from member 16 through an axial slot 18 formed in the side of the tubular member 15. Said pin 16 is only axially movable of the tubular memher. A bevel gear 19 is mounted on the lower part of member 15, and meshes with a bevel gear 21 attached to a shiftable feed regulating shaft 20 which changes the direction and amount of feed by rotation around its axis. A spring 50 is provided between said feed regulating shaft 20 and the machine frame 1 to rotate the feed regulating shaft 20 always in one direction. Said spring acts to press the front end of the follower 17 against the regulating cam 14.

Further, a shaft 23, which is rotatable around an axis within a plane including both axes of said two tubular members 5 and 15 and intersecting both of said axes at right angles, is rotatably supported by the machine frame 1. A knob 24 and a decorative stitch indicator 26 cooperating with an index 25 attached to the machine frame 1 are mounted on the part of said shaft 23 projecting out of the machine frame 1. Two plate earns 27 and 28 are attached to said shaft within the machine frame 1. The ends of the pin members 6 and 16 are pressed against plate earns 28 and 27, respectively by a spring 29 acting against pin 6 and a spring 30 acting against the pin member 16.

Therefore, when the knob 24 is rotated, pins 6 and 16 i will shift in accordance with the contours of the cams 23 and 27, respectively. This will align followers 7 and 17 with different cams of the series 4 and 14. Marks 31 are provided on said decorative stitch indicator to indi date decorative stitches obtainable by combinations of cams 4 and 14 brought'into contact with respective followers according to the degree of rotation of shaft 23 in cooperation with the index 25 provided on the machine frame 1.

Referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, it will be seen that the feed dog 39 is fixed to a horizontal feed bar 49. A feed link 44 is supported on shaft 20 and is engaged by a regulating link 43 also mounted by this shaft. As link 44 is shifted by link 43 to an upward or downward posit-ion,--the direction of feed imparted to the material by dog 39 will be changed. A horizontal feed ride-r 45 is in contact with a cam 46a. This cam is fixed on a rotatably supported shaft 46 within the base of the machine. The cam 46a imparts a "horizontal motion to the feed bar 49. Shaft 46 serves to rotate the sewing hook' 46b, conveniently by means of a helical gear 460. A vertical feed link 47, as in Fig. 7, is engaged by a cam 47a mounted upon the shaft 46. It serves to impart a vertical motion to the horizontal feed bar 49 and the feed dog 39. A horizontal feed arm 48 is pivotally supported by feed bar 49. As will be noted. particularly in Fig. 8, a horizont-al feed rider 45 is also included in the assembly, and serves to coordinate the operation of the parts.

Shaft 23 is also axially slidable and is always being pressed outward under the action of a spring 32 acting between the shaft and machine frame 1. As in Fig. 2 a pin 33 implanted in the machine frame 1 fits in one of many cut grooves 22 in the periphery of a stationary body 34 secured to the shaft 23 so that the shaft 23 will be fixed against rotation. When the shaft 23 is pushed against the pressure of the spring 32, the stationary body 34 will be disengaged from the pin 33 and will become free to rotate. Arms 35 and 36 are provided at the ends of tubular members and 15, respectively. These arms arewso shaped that when the .shaft 23 is pushed against thepressure of the spring 32, they will be pushed by disc pants 38 and 37 formed on respective sides of the plate cams 28 and 27, respectively, to rotate members 5 and 15 around their axes. Thereby the followers 7 and 17 will be moved to positions away from the needle bar operating cam assembly 4 and feed regulating cam assembly .14, respectively. It .is needless to say that said arms 35 and 36 and discs 38 and 37 are so arranged as not to obstruct the reciprocal rotation of the tubular members 5 and'1'5 accompanying the rotation of said cams 4 and 14 in a state of the shaft 23 not being pushed.

As obvious from the foregoing, according to the present invention, :all the regulating operation necessary for this kind of automatic zigzag-stitch sewing machine can be completed by operation of only one knob. Its operation is much simpler and can be carried out more promptly and surely, ascompared with any conventional machine. Therefore, the present invention is useful in adapting for home use this kind of automatic zigzagstitch sewing machine containing many cams.

The present invention should not be limited to only the above mentioned embodiment but also include various modifications in construction within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A sewing machine including in combination a base, a standard extending therefrom, an arm connected to said standard, a head carried by said arm and aligned with said base, a needle bar mounted by said head for both reciprocating and lateral movements, a feed dog movably carried by said base at a point substantially in line with said bar, a shiftable regulator shaft operatively connected to. .said feed dog and mounted within said base, means including a rotatable drive shaft operatively connected to-said needle bar for reciprocating the latter, a rotatable cam shaft, means drivingly coupling said cam and drive shafts, a :seriesof cam elements carried by said cam shaftto turn therewith, a -reciprocable rod connected with said needle'barforlaterally moving the same, a pair 3 7 3 I pp p 4, of cam followers, means mounting said followers and cams for axial movements relative to each other whereby each of said followers is alignable with different elements of said cam series, means for causing said followers to each engage elements of said series, a single control shaft, means for supporting said shaft for both axial and rotary movements with respect to said standard, manually operable means. connectedlto said. control shaft for causing such movements, means operatively connecting. said. control shaft with said followers. for disengaging them from said cam elements in response to an axial shaft movement, and means for causing relative movement and traversal of theelement' series by said followers in responseto-rotation of said control shaft. 1

other, said followers being also spaced from each other in their mounting and being each disposed adjacent one of said groups.

4. 'In a sewing machine as defined in claim 1, the

means for causing said traversal of the element series comprising pins carrying said followers and extending substantiallyparallel(to said cam shaft, means for slidably and rotatably supporting said pins, selector cams mounted by said control shaft and engagingsaid pins to move said followers to positions successively aligning with different cam elements, and means for causing said pins .to shift toward said selector cams.

5. In a sewing machine as defined in claim 4, the means for causing disengagementof said followers from said elements comprising p ants extending outwardly from said control shaft and arms connected to said followers to one side of the axes of said ,pins to turnv the latter and rock said followers upon. said parts-thrusting against said arms.

6. Ina .sewing machine, in combination, a frame, a drive shaft rotatably mounted by said frame, a cam shaft also rotatably mounted by said frame, a driving connection .between said drive and cam shaft, two groups of different-surfaced cams each. secured to and movable with said cam shaft, 21 pair of members to be controlled one by a. selected cam surface of one of said groups and the other by a selected cam surface .of the other .cam group, a pair of cam followers each cooperable with the different cam surfaces, meansv supporting each follower for sliding movements in a direction parallel to the axis of said cam shaft and also for .rocking movements toward and away from such axis, means connecting said follower,-

with one of said members to transmit to the latter rocking movements. of that follower, means for connecting the other follower with the second of said members for one of said followers to convert the rotary movements of said selector shaft to sliding movements of said followers whereby to displace each follower from a position opposite a cam surface 'to a position opposite another cam surface in the same group to thereby control said mernbars in accordance with different combinations of cam surfaces.

'7. Ina sewing machine :as defined in claim 6, said camselector means further comprising means for supporting said selector shaft for axial movements and engaging means between-said selector shaft and cam followers for converting the axial movements of the selector shaft to rocking movements of said followers to retract the latter from engagementwith'cam surfaces.

8. In a sewing machine according to claim 7, said cam selector means further comprising means restraining the rotary movements of said selector shaft and means for releasing said restraining means upon said followers being retracted from positions in engagement with the cam surfaces and said selector shaft being axially shifted to assume a predetermined position.

9. In a sewing machine as defined in claim 8, resilient means acting against said selector shaft to normally maintain the latter in a position whereby its rotary movements are restrained.

10. In a sewing machine as defined in claim 6, stitchpattern-designating means in the form of indicia alignable with each other and associated with said shaft and frame respectively to designate the stitch pattern to be produced by the machine as said selector shaft is rotated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller Oct. 24, 1911 Rader Dec. 21, 1926 Jenni July 9, 1935 Gellman Apr. 12, 1938 Casas-Robert et al. Sept. 29, 1953 Scarpa July 27, 1954 Harris Nov. 9, 1954 Urscheler July 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 12, 1908 Germany Aug. 9, 1915 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1954 France Dec. 29, 1954 

